In switching safety-relevant loads in the automotive field, for example, critical operating states due to a defect in the switch must absolutely be avoided. Therefore, in most cases circuit configurations having two independent series-connected semiconductor switches are used for switching such loads to create a certain redundancy. With this concept, one of the switches is used to switch the load while the other functions as an "emergency stop switch." This "emergency stop switch" monitors the functionality of the switch that switches the load. No monitoring of the functionality of the "emergency stop switch" is provided here.